


Upload Successful

by Monobear



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-04 17:50:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3077255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monobear/pseuds/Monobear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two rival Youtubers - RocketRaccoon, a Let's Player and LegendaryStarLord, a variety Youtuber are in the fight for ratings and views, and on top of the fact that they just realized that they're in the same city. A beautiful rivalry that gradually blossoms into something more ensues. Human AU, natch - FtM!Humanized!Rocket because that's just my headcanon so deal with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Upload Successful

**Author's Note:**

> This may be the longest Pocket fic I've written so far.   
> Also, am I the one who started the trend of Rocket calling Peter Star-Dork? Because that was my thing first. I'm so thrilled it's spread, though. Soon I shall lead the Pocket Army onto greater and grander frontiers. YEEEAAAAH.
> 
> (Also, recommended music for this fic would be 'Beautiful Times (Nightcore)' by Owl City.)
> 
> Anyway! Enjoy!

It was annoying, to say the least.

Videos were supposed to be fun. That's what it was at the beginning. That's all it was at the beginning. 

His old friend - Wally, that's what his name was - had dared him to actually do a full Let's Play. That was about 5 years ago now, and ever since, he'd been making a living off of it. It was really easy stuff, too. Few series - Drunk Terraria, regular Let's Plays, vlogs here and there...it was all pretty fun. Rage-inducing, of course, but fun in the sense that he didn't need an actual job, and on top of that, he was actually entertaining people with this shit, and he lived for the attention. Attention, affection, he was a glutton for all of it.

 

_"Hey everyone, this is RocketRaccoon here, and today I'm playing Five Nights at Freddy's 2. You all saw the last one and saw how much I hated that fucking thing, so of course you're going to have me do this one. Seriously, guys. I get the message. At least thousands of messages. I finally bent to the pressure - happy?! Right, let's see how much the animatronics piss me off this time..."_

He'd taken a handle from a mix of his name - Roy (originally Roxanne) Rayner - and a few suggestions from his nature-loving older brother. Of course it had to have an animal somewhere in the name. Animals and plants, that's all it was with him. He couldn't exactly help it, but...ah well. Raccoons were cool. So he didn't mind too much.

_"--DON'T YOU COME AT ME, YOU TRIX CEREAL REJECT. I WILL KICK YOUR ASS. RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. I WILL SHOOT YOU IN THE FACE."_

All he really had to do was get mad - not too mad, or they'd think it was staged - but mad. So much so that after one of those videos, he just had to sit down and breaaaathe for a while. Garrott - Groot, his older brother (a nickname coined by Roy in his toddler years since he couldn't pronounce his older brother's name) and his technical 'guardian' after their parents died (Groot had a few learning disabilities, but he'd proven himself to be a capable guardian. Capable enough for the two brothers to live alone.)

_"The hell is laughing at me?! ...Hello to you too, creepy disembodied child voice. Hm. Wonder where the fox i--OHHOLYSHITMOTHEROFCHRIST! SEE, THAT IS WHY I HATE THIS GAME! THAT! IS! WHY! MADE ME GO UP INTO MY HIGHER REGISTER! ...fuckin' fedora fell off my head, ugh..."_

Wally was his only friend (probably because the poor guy couldn't easily make friends either, with everyone making fun of him for his buck teeth and speech impediment due to it) and he'd been doing that before him - of course, they were both kids at the time, so none of the videos were high quality (Wally mostly did that 'misheard lyrics' thing anyway, so he didn't have to talk. He saw the fad and he rode it to the end.) but they were still fun. That's why when he found out that he'd be capable of becoming a 'Let's Player', he jumped on it. As expected with most modern Youtubers, his first Let's Play was Amnesia: The Dark Descent. It'd been an uphill trek ever since, and he was currently almost at the status of most watched Youtuber....if it wasn't for one other guy.

_"Sup, everyone? It's StarLord! This week's been pretty kickass. I mean, what else do you say when you win an auction on Ebay for a signed Kevin Bacon poster?  May have cost me a bit, but this baby's goin' straight up on my wall, it's so worth it."_

He'd cropped out of nowhere about a year ago, and was instantly popular. LegendaryStarLord was his channel name, and he was the absolute most annoying thing. He never shut up, he went on and on about the 70s & 80s (from what Roy'd found out from scrolling through a few of his video comments, it was apparently due to his mom loving that music or something), and his gimmick was that he went out onto the street and challenged random people to dance-offs. It was stupid. And yet he never stopped smiling and posted the videos regularly.

_"I mean, when I started this channel about a year ago, I was just going to put up one video, then quit. But hey, you guys laughed at it, and I'm all for making people laugh. If I'm making your day just a little bit better, then I'm doing my job right. I mean, when people recognize me, that just...I'm so glad I started this."_

Roy rolled his eyes, staring at the video with a firm grimace on his face. They always said 'know your enemy'. So, today, Roy had planned to do anything he could to investigate this 'StarLord'. Via Google, natch. Luckily, through the magic of loyal fanbases, he'd found the wikipedia page for his rival.

Peter Quill, or Peter Jason Quill, or LegendaryStarLord is a notable Youtuber, notable for the 'Dance-Off with StarLord' series, vlogs, blah, blah...lives in Austin, Texa--....

Roy paused for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and read it again. No. No way. They lived not only in the same state, but in the same city?! **THE _SAME. FUCKING. CITY._** Instantly, Roy's mind went to a horrible daymare of the annoying guy realizing this, and pestering him nonstop, coming over to his house, sleeping on his couch, dragging him into vlogs and making them partners, trying to make his Let's Plays co-op (the only one of those he did co-op was Drunk Terraria, and that was only with Wally and Groot on occasion)...

 

"...Roy?"

 

That was the quiet but deep voice of his older brother speaking up. Instantly, Roy snapped back to reality, hopping up from the corner of his game room/Let's Play filming room/computer room and turned his attention to his brother. "Groot, hey. What's up?"

"Got you a snack." The tall boy said, walking over to his brother's desk and placing the plate of carrot sticks down. (Roy wasn't particularly a fan, but Groot had gotten into the routine of making things for the both of them, and the fact was that his older brother was big into vegetables, much like all other plants.) He raised a brow, looking at the screen. "...Oh. I've seen him." 

Roy groaned, shoving a carrot stick into his mouth. "Mmn." 

"Is something wrong?" Groot looked at his younger brother. "...Is this about that guy?" He took his brother's silence as a yes, and continued. "You're about equal in fans, if that's the thing. And you do different stuff."

Roy let out a long sigh. "It's kinda ironic. He lives in the same city as us. Not even just same state, same city." 

"Really?" Groot paused for a minute, putting a carrot stick into his own mouth happily. "Maybe you two should meet up some time. You need more friends anyway. He's probably nice."

"You're joking, right?" Roy stared at his older brother with an annoyed frown. "He's a douche. He never shuts up, he's a constant ball of energy, he obsesses over all kind of stupid things..."

"...that's what people used to say about me, too." Groot stated quietly, looking away from Roy. Instantly, the younger boy regret his words. His older brother was smart (with a few quirks), but he was also sensitive. He'd apparently been very talkactive as a child, dancing around all over the place, but as he got older, the constant bullying he'd received for his personality had wore on him, turning him into his quiet older self. That was why he encouraged his little brother to make friends while he supposedly could. Groot had considered himself out of the running for any friendships a long time ago.

"...'m sorry, Groot. Sorry for puttin' it that way."

"It's alright." The elder wrapped his arms around his little brother and hugged him. "You didn't mean it." Roy nodded quietly, hugging his brother in return - he'd never allow this in public, but he was remarkably close to his older brother in private, which kind of showed in the vlogs they were in together - he always made Roy happier.

 

At that moment, a Skype notification popped up. Roy let go, and clicked on it. It was from Wally.

_You might want to check Youtube._

_...why?_

_Here. [Have a link.]_

Roy clicked on the link as Groot shoved another carrot stick into his mouth and watched his brother out of curiosity. The link had led to - oh, no - a video posted by StarLord himself. Sighing, he let the video load, staring at the title.

'Incredible Coincidences (++ New Challenge Announcement!)'

It didn't seem relevant...at first.

 

_"_ _Sup, everyone? It's StarLord! Sooooo. I've been doing some research on the side - I kinda want to get some people you'd more recognize on the dance-off videos, so I looked up people around here. First, Youtubers much like myself, because, y'know, best to stick with who you know, right?  And I found a really interesting one. I mean, I didn't even know, because the guy's inside on his videos, but--"_

Roy placed his hand over his mouth to hide his growing grimace, and bit down on his hand hard when he noticed his channel logo on the screen, with StarLord pointing right to it.

_"--that's right! RocketRaccoon is here, in my own home city! I know we've got a fanbase that crosses over a lot...why not cross over ourselves, eh, Rocket? This is an official challenge announcement! If I see you, Rocket, you know the drill! Dance off, bro! Me and you!"_

That was when Roy released a sound that sounded like the groan of the undead mixed with a poor person being demonically possessed. Groot paused for a moment, and bit down on his lip to prevent himself from laughing, but he did crack a grin. 

_"So I'll be lookin' for ya, Rocket! Watch out! Hahaha!"_

Roy paused the video and glared straight at Peter's laughing face, with an expression of sheer loathing. Clicking back onto his skype tab, he began typing.

_Well, I'm never going outside again. :)_

"I'll kick you out eventually." Groot stated in a joking tone. "You can't avoid him forever."

"I can sure as hell try." Roy muttered, shaking his head. "I can sure as hell try." 

 

Peter clicked back onto his most recent video, smiling a bit as he checked the comments. Everyone seemed thrilled with the idea, hoping that it'd happen somehow, a few saying 'I knew this would happen!' and almost no one disagreed with the idea. So that settled it. He would avidly be hunting for Rocket, definitely. If it pleased the fans, it'd be pretty nice. He leaned back in his chair, swapping out his computer headphones for his walkman headphones, and starting up his signature Awesome Mix #1. The music helped to fill the silence, in a way. 

Peter's home was silent - silent in a way that he didn't enjoy at all. He'd ended up living in an apartment alone - no roommates, no one, which was a heavy contrast with his previous residence. Up until a year ago, he'd been living with his Uncle Yondu and his uncle's domestic partner, Kraglin. They were nice guys, but they were also the leaders of a local gang. And as much as they were relatively friendly, Peter wasn't up to getting to getting too close to any more dealers or thugs (despite being around them a good majority of his life). Originally, he'd lived with his mother - his dad was never around, but...it was good enough. Until she died.

His grandfather had wanted to take him, but that was when his uncle stepped in, claiming that he was going to bring him to his dad - who should be second-in-line for custody anyway. The rest of his mother's side of the family was shocked at the arrival of a slightly rough guy with a heavy Southern accent and what was undoubtedly a line of mobsters outside the emergency room, but they let Peter go with him, despite his initial hesitance. He'd grown attached to Yondu like a surrogate father after Yondu changed his mind over delivering Peter to his father ("Shoot, I could do a better job raisin' him.") and decided to raise him with Kraglin instead. It was a good life, if a bit unconventional. Peter was still uncharacteristically cheerful.

About four years ago, he'd started up on watching what they called 'Let's Plays' - guys and gals doing commentary over their playthroughs of videogames. He was subscribed to a number of them - GAMEora, for one - and he'd all found them interesting in different ways. Of course, there was always that fateful day when he went to related videos to one of GAMEora's playthroughs, and clicked on a video by RocketRaccoon. His first Let's Play, so he said. He was unique. Funny. He enjoyed watching him most of all. It was like having a friend that he didn't really know personally, but still knew what he was like, how he'd act...he wished he'd actually known him, but he didn't. 

In the meantime, he'd actively contacted GAMEora - who, it turned out, was named Jeanette, but preferred the nickname of Gamora - and they'd started talking. Eventually, she'd mentioned how funny he was over Skype, and that he should start making videos himself. Not Let's Plays, just...talking to his audience. He was the best at that, kind of giving everyone who he watched a friend. Something to cheer them up. Maybe something with dancing? That's why he had started LegendaryStarLord, taking his handle from a nickname his mother had given him (Gamora speculated that it was just a fancy way of calling him a 'space cadet'. Peter didn't disagree - mostly because it wouldn't be out of character for that to be the case.)

He'd only started actively researching RocketRaccoon as a person not too long ago, curiosity striking him to see where his friend-not-friend had actually lived and what he was actually named. Roy. Roy Christina Rayner. He wouldn't forget it, either. But what really struck him was the fact that he lived in the same city he was in. That was it. This was his chance to finally meet him. Maybe do the whole dance-off thing, too, people might enjoy that - but really! That was so cool!

 

_You actually posted that challenge?? I didn't know you had it in ya. ;D_

Message from Gamora, as expected. Pretty prompt after he sent her the link, telling her that he finally did it.

_Hey, when I make promises, I get to 'em! >w< ...Eventually. ^w^;;_

_Pff. How're you going to track him down and declare your ~~undying love~~ challenge started?_

_Oh, ha ha. ~~That comes later.~~ And I don't know. *w* Is stalking bad when it's for a good purpose?_

_Yes._

_Damn. ;w; ....Is it bad if I do it anyway. >w>_

_I can't control you, Quill. But just remember. If he knows you're there, he'll get the pepper spray. Shield your eyes._

_Got it! +w+_

 

 

And so the chase began. Roy was avidly avoiding Peter, Peter was avidly hunting for Roy.  It had led to more than a few vlogs on the subject from both parties involved, much to the pleasure of the fans.

 

_"Hey everyone, this is RocketRaccoon here...and before you ask, I still haven't done that stupid dance-off challenge bullshit from StarDork. I'm not going to do it."_

_"Sup, everyone? It's StarLord! Before you ask, I still haven't managed to catch Rocket to get him to do the dance-off. He's totally gonna do it. Eventually."_

_"I know he thinks I'll do it, but I won't."_

_"I know he thinks he won't do it, but I know he will."_

_"If nothing else, I can compliment him on his determination. He's kept this up for a longass time now."_

_"Hey, he's got a lot of determination if nothing else. Takes a lot of effort to avoid a person that much!"_

_"Also, knock it off with the comments about him and I. There's nothing between us, and there will never be anything between us. Not friends, not lovers, not anything."_

_"The comments you're leaving are pretty funny, though. Go ahead with that shipping thing if ya want. I mean. Just don't make any porn pics, kay? Kissing, hugging, okay. Sex? No."_

_"I'm so done with this."_

_"I'm not even close to done with this."_

 

Roy stared at his screen, his eye twitching as he looked at the most recent upload by StarLord. It was another vlog, but once again, he'd made his intentions clear - he wasn't going to stop hunting for him. He pinched the bridge of his forehead, letting out another groan.

"Brought dinner." Groot said, walking into the room with some baked corn on a plate. Two ears, one for each of them. Sitting next to the computer and his brother, he looked at the screen. "Oh. Him again?"

"Yes." Roy stated through clenched teeth. "Yes, him again."

"Breathe."

Roy picked up his corn and took a big chomp out of it, his brows furrowed. "I fuggin hate 'im. Hesh the worsht pershon alive." Swallow. "Look at that stupid fuckin' charming-ass smile. Makes him look like an idiot."

"'s not bad.."

"And those stupid clothes, discount brands..."

"So are ours."

"And the fact that he just barely shaved. Barely. Probably did it before this video, slob. 'Least he got his hair cut."

"....I didn't even notice."

"Well, they're there!" Roy snapped, taking another big chomp out of his corn.

"...you sure you're not getting a bit...obsessed? I mean. Don't take this the wrong way....but you're noticing things that aren't even kinda obvious. Like a picky girlfriend."

Roy nearly choked on his corn, coughing. "Picky girlfriend?! The hell kind of brother are you?! I'm not fucking obsessed! He's the obsessed one! He wants to get me to dance and he's started mentioning my playthroughs on his stupid vlogs, and people keep making comments about how we should kiss, and he just laughs at it and he almost ENCOURAGES it, he's mentioned that Gamora more than a few times too, bet she's some kind of whore--"

Groot stared at his brother in disbelief. "...Are you listening to yourself right now?"

Roy paused, his voice going up in volume but starting to shake. "W-What the fuck do you mean by t-that?! It's not like I....I....I! Just! Go!" He put his head down into his folded arms, hiding his red face. Groot patted him on the back.

"It's okay. But if you don't confront this eventually...it's not gonna go away. No matter what, though, I'll be here for you. We are family, after all." 

Groot only got silence in response.

 

_Your affection still hasn't died off, has it?_

Peter was drumming his fingers on his table boredly. 

_You're not even asking that jokingly at this point, are you?_

_Not really, since I realized you were 100% serious. I don't understand why you're into short, angry, and shouty, but..._

_He's just...I don't know. I'm sure he's really nice. I can tell. There are just moments where you can tell he's kind of shelling himself off. Acting. I...I just want to know the guy behind the angry mask. I'm not going to say I'm in love with him, but he's...special to me._

_...You've got it bad._

_I know._

_You've had near-encounters before, right? Just...pick a place you know he'll turn up. You've got to get this settled, and as your friend, I do hate seeing you like this. I mean, you haven't jokingly hit on me since you started this quest. It's hurting you. Making you less happy._

_...yeah._

 

The moment it finally happened, neither were prepared, causing a mutual doubletake. It was just in an aisle of the local HEB - Roy was getting things for Groot and him (Groot had gotten the cold things beforehand, but he forgot the warm things. So that was up to Roy.), and Peter was just getting things for himself, and they'd bumped into each other. Quite literally.

"Oh. 'scuse me."

"Nah, 's fine."

 

There was silence for a few minutes, with both frozen entirely in place before they looked at each other and Peter grinned immediately while Roy immediately frowned in return. "I can't believe I finally found you! Man, you're good at hiding!"

"Yeah, whatever." Roy's scowl intensified. "You've got issues, looking for me for this long." His brain was adding things that he didn't even remotely mean mentally. Like to that last sentence 'even if I kinda liked it.' Luckily, he was able to control himself to not say it out loud, but he still hated the idea entirely. What was going on with his head?! 

"Nah, I've just got determination. A lot of it. Wouldn't be as popular as I am if I didn't."

"Oh, rubbing my nose into it? I got there first. And unlike you, I actually did things besides piss people off and look like an idiot."

"Because yelling at a computer screen doesn't make you look like an idiot." Peter stated, a bit smugly, what little temper he had flaring up. "You're one to talk."

"At least I'm not making other people get in on it!"

"They enjoy it!"

"And I'm not a stupid friggin' slob who shaves just before he gets on camera, and not even that well!"

"Hey, you clearly had bedhead in your third Five Nights with Freddy's 2 video! Don't get on me for that!"

"Idiot!"

"Prick!"

 

"I just--" That was when both were staring at each other with less angry expressions, having released the anger they had before.

"...I'm sorry for coming out of nowhere and stealing all the attention and parading around like a douche." Peter stated, a bit quietly. "I mean, yeah, I do it to try to make people feel better, kinda for the money too, but...I know you don't enjoy it, and I shouldn't have forced anything. I just kinda wanted to meet you."

"Meet...me?" Roy paused, his expression shifting into confusion.

"Yeah. To be entirely honest, you're one of the reasons why I started the channel in the first place. I watch your stuff. A lot. And I kinda wanted to meet you, because...I know you're not as angry and huffy as you seem. I mean, I've seen that stuff with your bro. You're nice deep down, and I...kinda wanted to meet the real you, even if you want nothing to do with me. I know. It all sounds really stupid. But..."

"...It's alright. I started watching your stuff too, and I....I don't hate you. I don't. I was kinda jealous at first, yeah, but...you kinda seem lonely. You...you, uh, live alone, and I...if you want to have a friend, err...something...I..." He was tripping over his words at this point. "...But I definitely don't hate yo--"

That was when Peter pressed his lips to the other boy's, leading to a surprised squeal, and then Roy leaning into the kiss in return, tilting his head and almost purring. When they slowly separated, each others saliva on their lips, they paused for a few seconds before Roy finally chuckled quietly, leaning into the taller boy. "God, this was all so stupid."

"Isn't most of the internet?"

"That's probably why."

 

By the next morning, there were simply two more videos uploaded to their Youtube accounts. On Roy's, there was nothing more than a still shot of a pile of clothes that viewers quickly pointed out belonged to Peter and Roy. (Labeled: 'deletethis.avi') On Peter's...

_..But then I fooled around and fell in love...I fooled around and fell - in love..._

They did have a dancing video, after all. But in it was nothing more than Roy laying his head on his new-boyfriend's shoulder as they slowly danced together.

_I fooled around and fell in love...since I met you, baby..._

And, of course, at the end, there was a gentle kiss shared between the two. (Labeled, of course: Dance-Off with Starlord - RocketRaccoon - Special Episode!)

The internet practically exploded with comments, causing the two to share a decent laugh.

"Hey, now that we're together, we should start one of those groups of Youtubers. We could include your brother, and Gamora, maybe her boyfriend too..."

"...does it have a stupid name?"

"We could call it the Guardians of the Galaxy. Space theme!"

"Dork. Let's do it."  
  


And they knew that after this, they'd still be doing what they did best - not making bad videos, not making good videos...but making a bit of both.

 

 


End file.
